Xenoblade’s Take On Character Customization

Monolith Soft is no stranger to costumes. Xenosaga III, after all, had swimsuits, which totally helped Shion and Jr. fight T-elos.

Nintendo hasn’t revealed anything like that in Xenoblade (yet?), but the Wii game has a character customization system. Shulk and the rest of the characters can wear different outfits. Changes made can be seen on the field, in battle, and even event scenes.

Xenoblade also has a unique bonds system where the party is connected to each other and NPCs. Bonds between party members affect battles. Players can take on quests to strengthen bonds with non player characters and change how they are perceived in towns. Keep building bonds to unlock special bond talk cutscenes which explore another side of characters.

Xenoblade will bond with retailers on June 10 when it comes out in Japan.

The bonds system sounds fantastic. Since this isn’t doesn’t have a gambit system and seems a lot more manual when it comes to controlling the main character I was worried about the AI, but this and the tension system Famitsu covered before seem to be the key your party’s performance. I know some have been turned off by the game for some reason or another and think The Last Story will easily be a better game, but personally I feel the opposite, Xenoblade sounds like a fantastic game that will be hard to top. I guess we’ll find out from those who get to play it in 2 weeks. I like how MonolithSoft intertwined all the gameplay with the world and story and find it hard to believe this won’t be a good game, but they could have easily stumbled on their implementation somewhere that prevents this from all turning out as great as it sounds. Regardless I want to play this sooner rather than later my-self so I’m still hoping NoA will announce the game for 2010 at E3, but at least confirming that the game is being localized would suffice.

Aoshi00

At this point, both Last Story and Xenoblade’s quality are unknown.. I just want to play an RPG w/ a good story and interesting chars, I’m not sure if Xenoblade will have that. Last Story, I guess I just have more faith in the Gooch, since I’ve enjoyed many of the games he had his hands on (I loved all 3 Xenosaga eps too, but this is not that). I know people will call me superficial, but it’s very hard to get over Shulk and the girl looking like a fish, the drawings are amazing, but the 3D models look extremely weird most of the time. For those who think the chars look good, I’m just puzzled.

jj984jj

At this point, both Last Story and Xenoblade’s quality are unknown.. I just want to play an RPG w/ a good story and interesting chars, I’m not sure if Xenoblade will have that.Why not? Sakaguchi isn’t exactly a great writer, though I suppose we already covered that I do not like the main plot in Lost Odyssey and how I felt about the dreams written by Kiyoshi Shigematsu not really syncing with it. I thought Blue Dragon was better even, but even if you feel the opposite it’s obvious Sakaguchi doesn’t always deliver a high quality story. Xenoblade might not have ties to the previous Xeno games but it is from the same writers. I don’t see a reason to expect less from this than The Last Story.I guess I just have more faith in the Gooch, since I’ve enjoyed many of the games he had his hands on.Yeah I gathered that this was the reason for all the love and hype for the game, but one person doesn’t make a game and since Mistwalker is just Sakaguchi’s company he always works with different developers to actually make games. I liked Lost Odyssey and loved Blue Dragon, but it would be naive not to not give feelplus and Artoon just as much, if not more, credit for them.Also, I remember you said you’d be disappointed if The Last Story turned out the be an action RPG, yet when it was confirmed to be one you didn’t sound disappointed at all. That’s what killed a lot of the hype I had for The Last Story though, since like I said if it’s an action RPG I’d need more details about it to decide if I even want the game. I really have no idea what to expect from the game anymore due to that and the developer is still anonymous which doesn’t leave me with any confidence either. Artistically the game looks good but that’s only a part of a game which isn’t always reflected in-game, and the only look we have of the game it-self so far are those small screens in the Famitsu scans. I know people will call me superficial, but it’s very hard to get over Shulk and the girl looking like a fish, the drawings are amazing, but the 3D models look extremely weird most of the time. For those who think the chars look good, I’m just puzzled.That’s not superficial, it’s what you think. Unless you won’t touch the game because of it, then a little bit. :pI’ve actually said before that I don’t like the character designs and I don’t think the character models look great either, I like how expressive they are but the game definitely won’t win any awards for its character modeling.

Aoshi00

I actually am disappointed that Last Story turns out to be not a turn based RPG, like ASH, Lost Odyssey, or Blue Dragon which I had all enjoyed, but what can you do. No Sakaguchi doesn’t make the games, but he has the talent of picking the right people and assembling a good team to carry out his vision, one reason I liked LO so much was because it was made by the people who made Shadow Hearts, I find a lot of similarities btwn the two games. But despite that, I’m loving all the designs of the Last Story they revealed so far, be it the exotic world, music, and beautiful char design. And it’s the Gooch’s next big game. Since Cry On was scrapped, this is the only left to look forward to. One thing I didn’t agree w/ his decision regard LO, the Jpn voice cast, leaves a lot to be desired. He didn’t need to pick famous names w/ mediocre voice acting skills, that’s the Miyazaki syndrome. To tell you the truth, I wish both Xenobalde AND Last Story to be turn based, but it was made clear at the beginning it’s not, also once the characters are out in the trailer, they are very unattractive to me, I know people have different taste, but I usually don’t find myself being so repulsed by a game’s design that much, why do they have to look so weird, w/ the eyes and nose placed in such an abnormal way, I don’t know how to describe it, it’s like those fishes in Finding Nemo except they’re not cute. Artistically, Xenoblade looks very much like FFXII, w/ a very expansive but for the most part bland and not distinctive environment (even though controlling the time is very cool), and lots of monsters on the field. I mean yeah it’s on the giant’s foot or shoulder, but it’s just a grass field. I guess it just doesn’t look like my kind of game.I play very few RPGs these days compared to before, I guess one obvious reason is there are virtually no turn based RPGs anymore (not the strategy kind, I never played those either), as I don’t have time to stick w/ a game for dozens of hours. when I do play one (not just RPG, could be any genre), I want to play one w/ a good story and interesting/memorable characters that I care for. It could be anything really, like Alan Wake or GTA4, I think they have good stories and chars. For the most part, I’m looking for “immersive experience”.I’m not trying to write this game off. I wasn’t going to say anything at all because this game simply doesn’t interest me. But I really want to play this for the “soundtrack”, I know it’s crazy… so I will wait for reviews instead of getting this on day 1. I will see if people who have similar taste as me would like this game first. Believe me, I have imported enough games that I thought would be good but turned out to be not, eg. not like Peace Walker despite loving MGS 1-4. I can’t just buy the OST either because w/o playing the actual game, the music means nothing.

jj984jj

I actually am disappointed that Last Story turns out to be not a turn based RPG, like ASH, Lost Odyssey, or Blue Dragon which I had all enjoyed, but what can you do. No Sakaguchi doesn’t make the games, but he has the talent of picking the right people and assembling a good team to carry out his vision, one reason I liked LO so much was because it was made by the people who made Shadow Hearts, I find a lot of similarities btwn the two games.So you’re disappointed but still hopeful when it could be anyone? He doesn’t always end up with the right people, not all the games Sakaguchi/Mistwalker had a role in turned out great. To tell you the truth, I wish both Xenobalde AND Last Story to be turn based, but it was made clear at the beginning it’s not,Haha, so do I, I had a ton of fun with Xenosaga 3 and was surprised when I read they were making Soma Bringer a Diablo clone. I do like action RPGs though, if I didn’t I would have already written both of these games off already. also once the characters are out in the trailer, they are very unattractive to me, I know people have different taste, but I usually don’t find myself being so repulsed by a game’s design that much, why do they have to look so weird, w/ the eyes and nose placed in such an abnormal way, I don’t know how to describe it, it’s like those fishes in Finding Nemo except they’re not cute. Artistically, Xenoblade looks very much like FFXII, w/ a very expansive but for the most part bland and not distinctive environment (even though controlling the time is very cool), and lots of monsters on the field. I guess it just doesn’t look like my kind of game.Well I’m not going to defend character models I don’t find attractive my-self, but I don’t agree about the environments looking bland at all. In fact, it’s clear that’s what they put a lot of effort into and I have a hard time believing The Last Story will remotely compare to the diversity and scale of the environments have in Xenoblade. I’m just hoping they’ll get close to the concept art and not use the lighting to cover up how bland they look, and I’m sure it’ll have invisible walls at almost every turn. Artistically, I think the environments in Xenoblade look beautiful and love the fact that they look fairly different due to the lighting during different times of day.I play very few RPGs these days compared to before, I guess one obvious reason is there are virtually no turn based RPGs anymore (not the strategy kind, I never played those either), as I don’t have time to stick w/ a game for dozens of hours. when I do play one (not just RPG, could be any genre), I want to play one w/ a good story and interesting/memorable characters that I care for. It could be anything really, like Alan Wake or GTA4, I think they have good stories and chars. For the most part, I’m looking for “immersive experience”.Well I’m not in the same boat, while Alan Wake and GTA4 were alright, MMORPGs or the multi-player oriented shooters that seem to be the most popular at the moment don’t appeal to me so I still gear for single-player games. I’ve played quite a few RPGs this year since this is still the genre I feel like I get the more immersive experience of out in terms of story, gameplay, and interaction with the characters. Although I also play action games and adventure games, the RPG genre is my favourite. Grid-based strategy is my least favourite of all the subgenres but that’s mainly because so many of them end up unbalanced and unfun so there’s only a handful I end up liking. So I’m very much after that “immersive experience” too, and I fully expect a game Takahashi is directing to deliver that. It’s fine if the character models turn you off so much that you don’t want to play the game, but you may end up missing out on the better game, or at least that’s just what I think.

Aoshi00

I will need to check out the reviews on Amazon Jpn first and decide. If it’s not the kind of game that I want to play, I don’t want to waste $70 importing it. If it does have a good story, then of course I will play it for the story and music even if action RPG is not my fav. genre.Yes, I’m giving the Gooch the benefit of the doubt, his Mistwalker games had all been fun to me, aesthetically Last Story is very attractive. If ASH ever gets localized in English I would buy it again, even if just for the sake of collection (I bought the OST and drama CD for that). As for invisible wall, I don’t think we would ever get anything as bad as FFXIII, HD wallpapers as background, so anything more than that would be pretty liberating. Sometimes I don’t need too many locations if they’re re-used wisely, like Nier or Batman Arkham Asylum. I definitely don’t care for MMOs or multiplayer shooters either. I bought Bioshock 2, Red Dead Redemption, etc for the narrative and single player. I just want to be sucked into a good story.

http://www.siliconera.com Jenni

Day 1 purchase for me if it gets a US release.

Aoshi00

Still very unsure about this game for many reasons (artistic, stylistic, and gameplay mechanics)… isn’t the bond figure a little unnecessaryily complicated though, like a map for train routes :(.. I don’t want to hear Vegeta voicing one of the chars either, he sounds like he has something stuck in his throat these days, especially bad when he yells, and Horikawa Ryo used to be one of my favorite voice actors.. Among the whole DB Kai cast reprising for their roles, it seems that he’s the only one not up to par..

jj984jj

It doesn’t look complicated at all, it seems a bit overly simplistic actually. Unless you mean the NPC bonds, but those are optional content.

Aoshi00

Yes, I meant the NPC bonds and all those smileys and frowns, looks like one of those maps you look at to see if you should get on the A, C, or N train, where to get off and then switch to a different train, or a big family tree for generations.. I know they’re optional, but I’m a sucker for fetch quests, like the ones in Xenosaga and Nier, if I like the world setting of that game that is.

Guest

Awesome! Every time something puts me off something pulls me back in with this game. Love/Hate!
Im a sucker for customization so this is huge plus for me. I will take those KH reject shorts of Shulk asap.

masuto

Woohoo! Another a new take on the social link!

Joanna

This game just keeps sounding better and better. I went from not interested-to interested-to very interested-to MUST BUY IT!Nintendo give us this game!!!

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